Pick-up device



J. GRIGNOLO PICK-UP DEVICE Spt. 12, 1939.

Filed Dec. 15, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet l J. GRIGNOLO PICK-UP DEVICE Sept. 12, 1939.

Filed Dec. 13, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v u mi Nm R V m W Patented Sept. 12, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PICK-UP DEVICE Juvenal Grignolo, San Francisco, Calif. Application December 13, 1938, Serial No. 245,396 2 Claims. (01. 56-328) My invention relates to improvements in a pickindependent or separate wheels 2 and a swiveling up device for use with afruit-gatherer, having a caster 3 to facilitate steering. A cradle 4 supcarriage and a receptacle, wherein a plurality of ports a detachable or removable receptacle 6, substantially vertically disposed parallel belts which may be a lug-box or similar receptacle used 5 mounted for movement upon said carriage are for fruit.

provided with forwardly inclined pins or picking A pair of vertical supports 1, one on each side of elements and operate in conjunction with means the main frame l,has pivotally mounted upon the for automatically and yieldingly holding a portop thereof a U-shaped member 8 with the bottom tion of each separate belt independently in con- 0f the U serving as a r handle for propelling 10 tact with a portion of an uneven surface over e a e, h e free ends eXteIldiIlg 10 which said carriage is moved, to impale fruit on a dly a d p v y connected to a p of said picking elements and convey said fruit above Olined arms 9 extending downwardly and the receptacle and into engaging relation with a Wardly 0n the inside of the main frame transferrer and a stripper, to deposit fruit into Each arm 9 is P d W a b eo ked said receptacle. bracket l l, near their lower ends, for engaging a The primary object of the present invention is limiting Stop 0n the main frame I t0 limit to provide a new and improved pick-up device for vertical movement of the arms 9 and the forward use with a fruit gatherer having a carriage and a ends of the D member receptacle. Hingedly suspended latches M on the rear end Another object is to pr id a new and improved of the member 8 are provided with notches l6 for 20 pick-up device of the character described, having engaging the real end of the main frame 5 hold proved eans for yieldingly contactin e the forward ends of the member 8 and the arms 9 rate portions of an uneven surface t pick f uit elevated to an inoperative position, as disclosed in therefrom, dotted lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The

A further bj ct i t provide a new and 1 notches l6 are normally held in engaging relation 25 proved pick-up d vic of th t t f rth and with said main frame I by the tension of fiat provided with improved means for transferring p s ll secured to and p in fr m the fruit, elevated by picking elements, into a suitable rear of the member 8 and exerting a tension receptacle on a fruit gatherer. a st Said latches 4.

A still further object i t id in conjunc A suitable roller 2|, provided with a sprocket 22, 30 tion with a. pick-up d i improved means f is rotatably mounted between the free or forward effectively brushing and cl i picking e1ements ends of the member 8 while a similar roller 23 after impaled fruit has been rem therefr m having a sprocket 24 is rotatably mounted between to remove small twigs, leaves, dirt and other the lower ends of Said arms foreign matter, to f cilitate re engagement f A plurality of substantially vertically disposed 35 said picking e1em nt ith th fruit t be nflexible endless and slack belts 26 are loosely ered. draped in parallel relation over the rollers 2| and I accomplish th s and th bje t by means 23 and are provided on their outer surfaces with a of th i p o ed mechanism disclosed in the draw plurality of forwardly inclined or slanted pins or ings forming a rt of th present applicatiton picking elements 27. That is to say, that the pins 40 and in whioh. or picking elements 21 are inclined in the direc- Fig. l is a partly broken side elevation of my tion in which the belts 26 are moved, the purpose improved de i of which will hereinafter be more fully set forth. Fig. 2 is a broken front elevation of one half of A rod 28 is mounted between the arms 9 and the m chin th th half being Similar; above the roller 23 and from this rod are freely 45 Fi 3 i b k detail View; suspended links 29, one for each belt 26, each of Fig, 4 i partly b k away plan View; said links 29 being provided at its lower end with Fig, 5 is a partly b k rear elevation; a pair of rollers 3| which are actuated by the Fig 6 i a b k detail of portion f the attraction of gravity to take up the slack in their tr f i mechanism; respective belts and also to independently and 50 F]' g 7 i a b k id View of Fig 5; and separately hold the lower end of each belt 26, or Fig, 8 i d t il i rather the picking elements 21 thereon in contact Referring to the drawings: with an adjacent portion of an uneven surface The numeral I is used to designate the main v r wh ch he rri is moved. frame of a suitable carriage having a pair of The weight of each pair of rollers 3| on it 55 respective belt will also yieldingly hold the picking elements 21 and their respective belts and thereby automatically and independently adjust each belt not only to an uneven surface but will also independently adjust each belt 26 and its picking elements 21 to various sizes of fruit encountered.

A rod 33 is arranged transversely between the free ends of the member 8 and also has freely and pivotally suspended therefrom links 34, one for each belt 26, and on the lower'end of each link is a pair of rollers 36. To each'link 34 I have pivotally attached a rod 31 slidably mounted within a sleeve 38 containing a suitable spring 39 to urge the rod 31 outwardly and'the link 34 and rollers 36 against their respective belts 26, to automatically but yieldingly adjust the spaced relation of the opposite side of said belt and the elements 21 thereon and a. transferrer roller 46, also rotatably mounted upon the member 8 and provided with a sprocket .41 and a plurality of forwardly inclined 'or slanted picking elements 48; similar to the picking elements 21 on the belts'26. The transferrer 46 is of sufficient length to'span all of the parallel belts 26, at their upper portions, as disclosed in Fig. 4 of the drawings.

A stripper 5 I, provided with a sprocket 52 and a plurality of preferably slit-edged leather flaps 53,

is also rotatably mounted upon the member 8 and.

parallel to and adjacent the transferrer 46.

One of the wheels 2 of the carriage I is provided with a sprocket 56 which drives a suitable sprocket chain 51, which chain 51 in turn drives the sprockets 52, 41, 22 and 24 of the stripper 5|, transferrer 46, and rollers 2| and 24 respectively. The various ratios of said sprockets are such that the lower ends of portions of the'belts 26 under the rollers 3| will travel rearwardly at the same speed with which the carriage moves forwardly so that there will be merely-a contact of said lower portions with a surface and no appre- 1 ciable relative movement between said belts and the ground, as'the carriage progresses. Also a ratio between the sprockets'56, 52 and 41 which will cause the stripper 5| to rotate with a greater peripheral velocity than the peripheral velocity of the transferrer 46. The sprocket 41 is of smaller diameter than the diameter of the sprocket 22 so that the transferrer 46 will rotate with a greater peripheral velocity than the peripheral velocity of the roller 2| and the belts 26 driven thereby.

A brushing means, comprising a roller 6 provided with a plurality of brushes 62 arranged in relatively sta gered or spiral relation, is connected by means of a step-up gear train 63 to a roller 2| so that said roller 6| will have a greater peripheral velocity than the peripheral velocity of the roller 2| and belts 26 and picking elements 21 thereon, directly above which roller 2| said roller 6| and brushes 62 are rotatably mounted, and rotating in the direction indicated by the curved arrows, in Fig. 1 of the drawings, so that the picking elements 21 will be effectively brushed and cleaned with a rapid motion on the part of said brushes 62 to remove from said picking elements any remaining debris or foreign matter, such as leaves, twigs, dirt or the ike.

In operation:

Using the rear end of the member 8 as .a handle, the carriage is propelled over the ground-surface of an orchard from which prunes or other fruit 32, such as olives and the like, are to be picked.

Any fruit directly within the path of the caster 3 is plowed aside, to prevent crushing, by the plow 65 attached to the caster 3. As the lower ends of the belts 26 and the picking elements 21 thereon, passing under the rollers 3|, contacts said fruit 32, said picking elements 21 will, by the pressure of said rollers 3|, be caused to impale said fruit, the said rollers 3 being freely and pivotally suspended, readily rising or yielding to automatically accommodate the space between said picking elements and various sizes of fruits encountered and yet exert suflicient pressure, by reason of the weight of said rollers 3| to impale said fruit upon the impaling or picking elements 21.

' As the carriage |.proceeds the sprocket 56 on one wheel 2, through the action of the sprocket chain 51 and the several sprockets involved, rotates the rollers 2| and 23 and the belts 26 thereon; at a speed or velocity backward equivalent to the forward velocity of the carriage forward so that there Will be no movement of the belts 26- relative to the surface being traversed, at their lower ends or points of contact.

But, such speed will still move said belts 26 and .elements 21 thereon to cause said belts and pickremove them therefrom, as disclosed in Figs. 1-

and 6 of the drawings.

' Fig. 7 of the drawings discloses that there are a pair of separate and independent rollers 36 for each separate belt 26 so that each of said belts will be independently and automatically urged, by its respective spring 39, see Fig. 8 of the drawings, to automatically adjust each belt to accommodate the space between it and the transferrer 46 to the dimension of the fruit passing, regardless of the different thickness or dimension of different fruit on different belts.

As the transferrer 46 is'rotated the fruit 32 on the elements 48 thereof will bestripped therefrom by the slit-edged flaps 53 of the stripper 5|.

As this stripper 5 I is driven by asprocket 52 smaller in diameterthan the diameter'of the sprocket 41 of the, transferrer 46, and both sprockets are driven by the same chain 51, it is obvious that the peripheral velocity of the stripper 5| and flaps 53 thereon will be greater than the peripheral ve-.

locity of the transferrer 46 and elements 48 there on carrying the impaled fruit, and therefore said fruit will move off of said elements 48 when encountered by the faster moving flaps 53 and drop into the hopper 1| below said transferrer and the removable receptacle 6 under said hopper.

As the movements of the belts 26 continue and carry said picking elements 21 overthe upper ends of said belts 26, or over the roller 2|, the staggered or spirally arranged brushes 62 upon the roller 6|, rotated at a greater speed roller 2|,. will readily pass over and effectively brush the elements 21 in the direction of their inclination and thereby remove any twigs, leaves or other foreign matter which might interfere with an effective impaling action on the part of said elements when they again encounter fruit to be picked.

7 through" V the step-upv gear-train 63 than the speed of the It should be particularly noted that the rollers,

3! not only automatically and yieldingly adjust the lower or contacting elements 21 on the belts 26 to the variations in fruit sizes, but by reason of their freely suspended nature, these rollers 3 l actuated by the attraction of gravity, readily adjust these belts to cavities or projections of an uneven surface and separately and independently of each other. In this manner fruit lying upon an uneven surface may be effectively gathered.

When not in operation and during transportation to and from a location, contact of the lower ends of the belts and picking elements thereon with the ground may be prevented by pressing downwardly on the rear or handle end of the member 8 so that the forward ends thereof and the arms 9 and rollers 2i and 23 will be elevated, as disclosed in dotted lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings. When moved to this position the notches I6 will be held in engaging relation with the rear end of the main frame I by the pressure or tension of the springs ll against the latches l4. Upward movement of the forward end of the member 3 and arms 9 connected thereto as well as a lower operative position of said member 8, arms 9 and belts 26, is limited by the oppositely positioned hooks on the ends of the brackets l l which engage the stops IE on the inner sides of the main frame, as disclosed in Figs. 1 and 4 of the drawings.

When being moved into inoperative position the rod 28 will engage arms 12 pivotally connected at one end to vertical uprights 13 on the main frame I, one on each side, and having a support 14 on their other ends, and raise said support 14 to engage the inner sides of all of the belts 26 to take up a major portion of the slack caused in said belts when the freely suspended arms 29 and rollers drop to a lower position. This arrangement prevents the arms 29 and rollers from dropping to a true vertical position which would produce excessive slack in said belts.

Having described my invention, I claim 1. A pick-up device for a fruit-gatherer, having a carriage and receptacle, comprising a substantially vertically disposed flexible belt mounted for movement on said carriage and provided with forwardly inclined picking elements on the outer side thereof; means for yieldingly holding the lower end of said belts and picking elements thereon in contact with a surface, over which said carriage may be moved, to impale fruit on said surface and elevate said fruit, a rotary transferrer upon said carriage arranged in spaced relation to an upper portion of said belt and above said receptacle, said transferrer being provided with forwardly inclined picking elements on the periphery thereof; means connected with said carriage for moving said belt at a peripheral velocity equal to the velocity of said carriage, when moved over said surface, for rotating said transferrer at a greater peripheral velocity than the peripheral velocity of said belt, to permit the picking elements on said transferrer to engage and move off of said picking elements of said belt any fruit impaled therein; stripping means for stripping fruit from said transferrer and into said receptacle; and means for yi-eldingly holding the upper portion of said belt in spaced relation to said transferrer to automatically adjust the space between said belt and transferrer to various sizes of fruit on said belt.

2. A pick-up device for a fruit-gatherer, having a carriage and receptacle, comprising a plurality of substantially vertically disposed flexible belts mounted in parallel relation for movement on said carriage, each belt being provided with forwardly inclined picking elements on the outer face thereof; means for independently and yieldingly holding the lower end of each belt and the picking elements thereon in contact with an uneven surface over which said carriage may be moved to impale fruit lying on said uneven surface onto said picking elements and elevate said fruit with said belts; a rotary transferrer mounted on said carriage and above said receptacle and in spaced relation to the upper ends of said belts, said transferrer being provided with forwardly inclined picking elements on the periphery thereof; stripping means for stripping fruit from said transferrer into said receptacle; means for independently and yieldingly holding the upper portion of each belt in spaced relation to said transferrer to automatically adjust the space between each belt and said transferrer to various sizes of fruit passing through said space; and means for moving said belts at a peripheral velocity equal to the velocity of said carriage over said uneven surface and for rotating said transferrer at a greater peripheral velocity than the peripheral velocity of said belts and the stripping means at a greater peripheral velocity than the peripheral velocity of said transferrer.

J UVENAL GRIGNOLO. 

